Poundmaker

Poundmaker, (born c. 1842, near Battleford, North-Western Territory [now in Saskatchewan, Canada]—died July 4, 1886, near Gleichen, Alberta, North-West Territories, Canada), chief of the Cree people of the western plains of Canada who took part in the 1885 Riel Rebellion—an uprising of First Nations people and Métis (persons of mixed Native American and European ancestry)—against the Canadian government.

When Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, marquess of Lorne, governor-general of Canada, made a tour of the Canadian northwest in 1881, Poundmaker served as his guide from Battleford to Calgary, Alberta. In 1881–85 Poundmaker led agitation of the Indians of northern Saskatchewan for redress of their grievances, and in 1885 he joined the Riel Rebellion under the Métis leader Louis Riel. After Riel was captured later that year, Poundmaker surrendered and was sentenced to a three-year prison term. He was released after serving one year and died soon thereafter.